California home sales drop in November

Median sales price was $360,000

California home sales slid last month amid tight supplies, while prices held steady, a research firm said Tuesday.

There were 33,429 new and existing houses and condominiums sold in November, down 10.8 percent from 37,481 sales the same period last year, DataQuick said.

The median sales price was $360,000, up 23.7 percent from $291,000 the same period last year but up only 0.8 percent from $357,000 October. It was the 21st straight month of annual price increases and 12th straight month of annual gains above 20 percent, though prices have cooled since a torrid run earlier this year.

Lack of inventory is keeping a lid on sales. The California Association of Realtors said Tuesday that the state had a 3.6-month supply of unsold single-family homes in November, better than the three-month supply a year earlier. Still, supply in a normal market is considered five to seven months.

Sales in the San Francisco Bay area slid 10.9 percent from last year to 6,659 homes, DataQuick said. The median sales price in the nine-county region was $550,000, up 25.6 percent from $438,000 in November 2012 and up 1.9 percent from $539,750 in October.

The Bay area had only a 2.3-month supply of unsold homes, unchanged from the same period last year, according to the California Association of Realtors.

DataQuick reported Monday that sales in Southern California fell 10.4 percent from last year to 17,283 homes.

The median sales price in the six-county region was $385,000, rising slightly from $383,750 in October to match a three-month high. The median price rose 19.9 percent from $321,000 last year - the 16th straight month of double-digit annual increases.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area had a 3.9-month supply of homes in November, an improvement from a 3.2-month supply a year earlier but still much lower than a normal market.